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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273973">Oh One-Three</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakuraiai/pseuds/Sakuraiai'>Sakuraiai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure &amp; Romance, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Biting, Blindness, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, Friendship, M/M, Mild Gore, Original Character Death(s), Romance, Zombies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:15:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,564</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273973</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakuraiai/pseuds/Sakuraiai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Others.<br/>Infected, poisoned.<br/>All they knew was to eat, to hunt, to kill.</p><p>Lance McClain had a job to do. And that was to make sure the subject, Oh One, was complete, that the antidote was ready for the apocalypse currently happening around them.<br/>But he hadn't expected the Others to find him, to find Oh One, to find his love.</p><p>And he definitely didn't expect to see his love wake up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. My Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Halloween Eve!</p><p>She's back at it again with a Halloween fic, that's right baby.<br/>This will not be finished by Halloween, oh no. But who can say no to an apocalypse, eh?</p><p>Been having some bad times at home, and I need to vent my frustrations, so why not write something like this?</p><p>Be prepared!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">You’re here again.</span> </em>
</p>
<p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance's sneakers tapped silently on the tile as he quickly slipped</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> through the slightly ajar door and</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> into the small rectangular room. With a huff, he closed the heavy door behind him</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">, closing himself from the harsh world</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">. Laying his head on the blacked out window pane, he tried to regulate his breathing. Harsh and haggard steam flooded the bottom of the glass as he tried to get </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">his frantically beating heart rate back to normal.</span></p>
<p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But it didn’t work. His heart was beating even more frantically now, </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">pounding and pumping blood and adrenaline through his entire system. His fingers were still shaking</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> even after all of that</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But it was</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> that sensation alone that had got him all the way here, into the very bowels of the building.</span></p>
<p>
  <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">To the lab.</span>
</p>
<p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">To where </span> <em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">he </span> </em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">was.</span></p>
<p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Bright blue eyes darted up to his reflection in the window, </span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">he witnessed the broken and fritzing screens around the room, ones that were usually always on and always monitoring the precious cargo hidden inside</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">. He grimaced</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> at his reflection</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">. His usually straight, dark shoulder length hair was in thickened and messy clumps, tied up in a barely done tail at the nape of his neck</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> There were s</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">trands of hair coming out from its hold and feathering around his sweaty face. His brown skin was almost deathly pale, covered in blood and </span> <em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">ew</span> </em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">he didn’t want to know what</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> that</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> was, but he knew it did not belong </span> <em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">outside </span> </em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">of a person. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">It</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> was everywhere, meshed in a mess alongside</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> thick rivulets of sickening flesh and </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"><em>oh god</em>, </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">there were pieces of what looked like someone’s teeth in his hair!</span></p>
<p>
  <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">His thick glasses were splattered with the same gunk and blood, so he sought to quickly take them off, now that he had the time and clean them as much as he could on his dirty uniform shirt. It was a stupid idea for him to do something like that; he was completely blind without his glasses after all. He blamed that on his stupid job.</span>
</p>
<p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He was quick to slip them back on his face, the blood only smeared over the spectacles, but at least now he could see passed the…</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">ew</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">-</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">ness.</span></p>
<p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">God, he was such an idiot. But he just </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">had </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">to see </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">him</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> one last time.</span></p>
<p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">The </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">walkie</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> talkie attached to his hip sparked to life, making him jump. It let out a faint white noise before clearing. A stream of frazzled and frightened voices permeated the air, yelling and screaming for their lives. He shuddered at the gun shots being f</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">ired frantically over the dull </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">roar of humming and suspiciously familiar groaning coming through the plastic speaker. The sound was broken by the crackling of white noise and heavy zips of frequency change or drops as the </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">walkies</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> owners</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> all died one by one.</span></p>
<p>Shit. </p>

<p></p><div>
  <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Okay,</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> don’t panic. H</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">e was safe here. For now.</span></p>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">And he had a job to do. Looking down, he straightened his tattered white coat, cleaning the grime from the fabric as he did so. He flattened his badge swinging from his waist pocket and moved through the room. He knew he was only trying to keep himself busy, his hands were shaking as he moved, his body shivering like a leaf.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“What are you even doing?” he reprimanded himself, willing his trembling hands to still.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Drowning out the low rumble of groaning from a few floors above him, he darted his gaze to the steel vault door at the other end of the small room. The door was made of thick metal, with a safe-like circular door handle, one that took a bit of work to open. “You’re bringing them right to him, Lance,”</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Would it really be safe for him in there?</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Hearing the heavy sounds of thudding and the low groaning getting louder as they made their way down the building, he shook his head and got to work.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He needed to focus. There was no need to think of anything else right now. He knew this wasn’t going to end well for him. But he was going to complete his objective before he did so. He had chosen to come here; the one place he had sought as his safe haven, the one place he would preferred to spend the rest of his life, and he knew.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">…he was going to die here.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Sucking in a brave breath, he turned around to face away from the blackened door, knowing the flimsy lock wouldn’t hold for too long. He rushed to the other side of the room, standing right before the large vault.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“This is it, eh?” he breathed, taking a tight hold of the circular handle. “The last time we will see one another,”</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance grunted as he forced the vault to open. He had done this countless of times before, so he knew exactly just how much strength he needed to give, and for just how long. The handle gave way and a triumphant smile graced his lips.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">T</span>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">his was it.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">A cool steam pooled out from the bottom of the vault, making his toes curl</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> at the biting cold</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">, he pushed the door open a little more and slipped through the small space he had created. Forcing the door closed with his shoulder, he waited for it to lock into place. Once the click and whirring sound of the vault locked back into place, he let out a breath.</span> </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Safe.</span>
    </p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">For now.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">His hand instinctively reached for the small tablet on the wall to his right. Taking it off th</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">e holder, he turned it on. His face </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">was </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">suddenly </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">illuminated by the blue of the screen. Lance let out a breath as he</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> made his way into the room, the misty wisps of cold on the ground lifted up and </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">curled around his ankles as he walked, spreading this way and that.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> He</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> shuddered. It was always so </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">cold </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">in here. But he was happy to feel it. Because in that frigid cold was the one thing he truly cared for.</span></p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">In the centre of the circular vault room was a tall, glass cylinder, thick and filled with a red amniotic liquid. Through the haze of red was a man, sleeping, curled sweetly in the water in just a pair of pyjamas and an oxygen mask pressed and strung over his mouth and nose.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">There were all sorts of pipes and wires coming from his skin</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">, looping over around his body and up to the top of the cylinder.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> But that didn’t deter from the absolute beauty <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> saw in him.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“Hello again, my love,” he murmured, knowing this was yet again another dumb idea he had come up with. Just like his dumb idea to call the 'subject' <em>'his love'</em> all those months back when he had first seen him, first gotten to know what he was. They hadn’t spoken to one another, hell, <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> hadn’t even seen his eyes. He had been in that pod, in the safety of stasis, ever since <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> had been assigned to his care.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But it didn’t matter. <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> had fallen so madly in love with him. And the man didn’t even know who he was.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> worked his way around the cylinder, going about his usual day with his love, as if it wasn’t a flood of </span> <em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">them</span> </em> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> coming after them all. <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span></span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> couldn’t let him see, he couldn’t let him know…that the world was dying.</span></p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">His fingers ran over the metallic pedestal at</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> the</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> very front of the</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> cylinder</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> where the number</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> ‘01’</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> was embedded into the metal itself</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">, courtesy of this being the first chamber built for this kind of thing. It only seemed safe to call the man inside ‘Oh-One’</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> ever since.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But for <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span>, he was always ‘my love’.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Sadistic and tw</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">isted thoughts wrapped his mind;</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> wished desperately that he could hear his love say the same to him.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> He wished he could hear his loves voice.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But Oh One wasn’t for him. <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> was just an insignificant little speck of dust in the grand scheme of things.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> Not important to the world.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">And he was going to be less in the new world, the world overrun by </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">them.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">So he let himself be selfish, he let himself see his love one last time.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> ignored the commotion on the floors above him, focusing instead on the steady pace he always kept whenever he was around his love. He hadn’t seen what they were, or what they looked like. All he had heard were the sounds coming from his </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">walkie</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> talkie as he had gone about his normal morning.</span></p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p>“He mustn’t be disturbed.” Alfor, his boss, had told him, pressing a hand on the glass. <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> had nodded and had sought to continue his job as normal. Even when he heard the news rasp on and on about the terrible fortune the world had come to.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> drowned it all out – he had to – because his love must not be disturbed.</p>
  <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">His love was safe her</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">e</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">, in this tightly sealed vault, hidden from the cruel world, until he was ready to grace it.</span></p>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance's</span> </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">walkie</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> sparked again, someone must have fallen to the ground. He could hear a faint sound of <em>them</em>. They sounded sickening, groaning and moaning, cut off only by pain filled screams and frightened yelps. Everything about the </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">others </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">had caused <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> to run. And run he had, through the mess and the mass of bodies. He had witnessed the aftermath of whatever those <em>others</em> were, tripped over blood soaked men and women, slipping into those who were savagely ripped open, gazed at their mouths agape in their last breath.</span></p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> wished he had never seen</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> anything</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He was safe here, however, locked in with his love. Only for a short amount of time, because he knew this wasn’t going to last long. Those locks would not hold forever.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But it gave him time. And that was what he needed. Time to administer the golden ticket, the serum that made his love just what he was now. His love was the only one that could house the serum within him, and use it for its purpose.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">To save them all.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Fantastical, <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> had thought so too. But his love was the world’s only hope. Humanity’s last chance. If they had any hope in saving the world from the Other’s. It would be with him and Oh-Two. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Oh, Oh-Two was a thorn in <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance's</span> side from the get go. She was so beautiful, so pale and wondrous, so lovely. It really ruined the fantasy <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> had created for himself. But at the end of the day, though he would continue to call Oh-One his love, he knew his Oh-One was to be with his rightful love in Oh-Two.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">And <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> would be alone here, about to die a gruesome and horrible death. So it was alright for him to let himself continue his dream. No one was getting hurt after all.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He would do everything in his power to make sure his love was safe, that his love made it to the end. <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> was ready to end his life for him. </span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Forcing back ragged and frightened gasps of breath at the very thought, <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> continued his routine, c</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">hecking the wires and pipe</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">s</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">. He couldn’t show his love that he was scared. He had never been too sure what his love could hear, what he could feel, what he could </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">see. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Peering at the tubing, he smiled when he saw </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">the silver</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">y gold serum continuously drip i</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">nto the tubes</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> and straight into his loves body. It had to be given slowly, in increments. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">And</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> he was there to check and make sure it still worked, and give his love the boost he needed once every day.</span></p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“You must be surprised I am here so early, my love.” he whispered in low and slow breaths as he made his way around the chamber and to the small cupboard on the wall. Pressing the pass code into the small keypad, <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> pulled it open and took out the last two thick syringes sitting in the foam padding. The liquid was glowing the same silvery gold, sparkling with an unusual shine.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">The antidote.</span>
  </p>
  <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Well, it was </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">more </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">than just that. It was the one thing that could save the world. But it had to be administered into two subjects; Oh-One and Oh-Two, and together they would join forces and save the world. </span></p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Honestly, <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> hadn’t been too sure just how all of this worked. He had been given the top secret job, to administer the antidote doses into Oh-One and take care of him while he did so. <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance</span> did his job well, and he was going to make sure he completed it.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“We’re going to have to cut out date short tonight, my love,” he sighed, getting straight to work. He moved around him, following the path he always took, taking slow and calm breaths as he did so, though he was anything but calm on the inside.</span>
  </p>
  <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">His </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">walkie</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> sprung to life once again as another person fell, he silenced the screams coming from the speakers. But the sound of gunshots on the levels above him sounded closer than they had before. There were thumps and thuds and heavy groaning sounds as the Other’s came closer and closer.</span></p>
  <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He jumped when he heard the room door slam onto the wall, followed by inhuman grunting and groaning. Pain filled screams echoed through his silenced </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">walkie</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">, and he could hear scratching sounds against the metal of the door. The sound of bodies falling to the ground, his friends, his colleagues, all falling like dominoes in the room opposite the vault.</span></p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“Oh-Two is down!” the voice was crackled and quiet, but he clearly heard it. “I repeat, Oh-Two is down!”</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">No.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">No! This couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be it!</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He hummed out loud, hoping to drown out the sounds coming from around him. With Oh-Two down, they had no hope left. They’d have to figure out a way to get another Oh-Two, but there was no time. The serum had to be administered slowly.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">No time.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>What could he do?</p>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Looking down at the syringes in his hand, he held them tightly. No, he couldn’t just leave it like this. The serum would not survive out there in the world. He’d have to…he’d have to put the serum inside somebody. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">The sickening sounds at the vault door increased, stilling his humming.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">They were safe in here. The Others’ wouldn’t be able to get in so quickly. His love would be safe. He just needed a little more time, one more boost.</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> The glass was thick, bullet proof material, and the life supports were running on a backup generator that ran underneath the chamber itself.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">It would be impossible to get into, or break down.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He was safe. He was going to be okay.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But the same could not be said for Lance.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Screams echoed through the </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">walkie</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> talkie, sounding so much more sinister as they echoed with the sounds he heard outside. His body turned icy cold, his stomach cramping in fits with the fear. He felt his mind go numb. There was no fight or flight response, just fear, fear, fear.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"><em>This was it. This was it. This was it</em>.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">A tear escaped from his eyes, which he hastily wiped away. He couldn’t show his love that he was scared, he couldn’t…he…he hummed again, a bright and cheery tune, like he usually did. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Holding the antidotes tightly in his grasp, he looked up at his love. Just one more look. He just wanted to take his fill of his love before his end.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“This is your last dose,” he said, pushing the needle end into the small butterfly piping. “After this, you’re all done.”</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance grimaced as his tears continued to fall. His fingers were shaking as he pressed the back of the syringe and gave his love his final boost, watching the silvery gold move through the paces and drip a little quicker into him. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance only wished he could have seen his love awake, wished he could have seen his love's eyes, heard his loves voice. “It was an honour being with you, my love,”</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Jumping at the sound of the door handle being pushed and turned behind him, he quickened his pace. He still had the last syringe with the serum to give him, and though Lance always took the most amount of time as he could to do this, right now he had none of it left.</span>
    </p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p>The screeching halt of the metal handle turning made him shiver. <em>They</em> were learning. </p>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Self preservation</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> won out and he took the other syringe of the antidote and spun around the chambers to the darkened edge, hiding in the shadows of his love as the door screeched and creaked, being forced open by something so inhuman. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He needed to do something. Oh-Two was down, and Oh-One was almost complete. He only had one syringe, and nothing to lose. His thoughts ricocheted with a multitude of stupid ideas. </span></p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Turning his head, Lance had seen them,</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> hands and faces forcing themselves through a heavy door. He had</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">seen those sunken eyes, black as the night and shining eerily, broken and bloodied skin that was sagging against skeletal bodies. The Others. All they knew was to eat, to hunt, to kill.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">His love had been bred for this. His loves entire DNA and genetics had been altered, experimented on and made better for this. He and Oh-Two were supposed to come together and become an unstoppable force somehow.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But now, with Oh-Two down and the </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">others</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> at the door, Lance knew this was it. This was the end of the world. They had not won.</span></p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Looking down to the shadow of his love on the metal ground, </span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">he grimaced at the injection in his hand. His mind worked at the possibilities. The </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">serum</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> was supposed to be injected in small increments. That was what they had held his love and Oh-Two in these </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">chambers;</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> they acted like incubators, slowly feeding their altered bodies the antidote. Lance wasn’t sure what would have if he were to inject such a large dose all at once.</span></p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Another dumb idea rushed through him. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">The serum wasn’t safe in glass, so easily breakable. He needed to put the serum inside something that could host it for a long time. </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Not letting that stop him, Lance was going to do everything in his power to help the last hope to restore the world. He was going to save his love, so his love could save the world.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">So he held the antidote to his chest, right over his heart, the same place it was for his love, and just as the doors shuddered open enough for the others to come in, he plunged the needle into his body and squeezed the pump.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Cold, freezing. Fuck, he felt frozen. The pain was numbing everything around him as the antidote seeped through his body at a maddening pace. He could barely make out the </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Ot</span><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">hers as they slinked their way into the room, flesh dripping, blood pooling, bodies rattling, running rampant over the area as they tried to get to his love.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">But they kept a wide circle around him and his love.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Strange.</span>
    </p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Lance took that time to force himself onto shaky feet. The adrenaline coursing through his </span>body giving his strength as he stood directly in front of his love, staring into the closed eyes, wishing and wanting and hoping they would open.</p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p>Such a blessed relief for such a short moment, before it happened.</p>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">His mind was on fire, body turning liquid and her gaze clouding over in ashen black. Tears escaping his dulling eyes, as the </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">serum</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> blinded his vision, reddening everything around him in such a bloodied </span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">gold</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">,</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> until</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> he could no longer see anything that wasn't hued in blood.</span></p>
    <p><span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">And then the others attacked, rising up from the ground in such gigantic heights. He coul</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">d barely see through the gold</span> <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman"> haze taking over his eyes. The pain was just too much, he collapsed onto the ground at his loves feet, feeling claws and hands and arms reaching for him, grasping at his skin.</span></p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">“I’m sorry my love,” Lance murmured, taking one last look up at his love, before his eyes clouded over completely. “I’m sorry,”</span>
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Wake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So...I wrote this yesterday, and then my laptop decided to delete every single one of my files. Due to unruly family members and a whole load of juice or fizzy drinks.<br/>Yay... <br/>This is so not my year.<br/>Sorry for those waiting for this and Freaks. I am currently trying to rewrite everything as quickly as I can. But it looks like its going to be slow going.</p>
<p>Can I get a whoop whoop...</p>
<p>Ahem.<br/>Thank you for all of your kudos and comments, love you all!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> “Experiment; Kinetically Enhanced Infrastructure and Tactical Hub. Dominant Saviour; Initiative type Oh One, complete.” </em>
</p>
<p>He woke to the sound of a buzzing like sound that seemed to come from all around him. His body vibrated, shuddering at the consistent humming. He wanted to groan at it, wanting to mentally bat it away, to stop it. But it didn’t listen, instead getting louder and louder until it was right next to him pounding in his ear.</p>
<p>The buzzing was soon followed by a thunking sound from above him, followed by a gurgling sound. He didn’t know what the hell was happening, but he just wanted it all to stop. His hair stood on end, goose bumps spreading along his skin as the warmth around him slowly started to strip away, starting from the top of his head all the way down to the tips of his toes.</p>
<p>With the heat came the feeling of heaviness, he felt like lead, like his body had been contorted and twisted and he was forced down to the ground by an invisible and unstoppable force. His bare feet hit the solid metal as the last remnants of heat left him, circling around him and causing him to shudder all the more. His body, not used to the weight on his legs after god only knew how long, fell forward. Sluggishly, his arms rose up and he stopped himself from falling forward. His arms slapped harshly against a thick glass, the ache washing over him and causing his eyes to dilate.</p>
<p>Oh.</p>
<p>His eyes opened slowly, dark starry purple reflecting back at him from the one way glass. He had something pressed against his mouth, and only when he saw it did he notice all the wires and pipes on him. He grabbed at the plastic and metal in his mouth, feeling the distinctiveness of his gag reflex waking up from his dormant state.</p>
<p>He had to get it out.</p>
<p>Grabbing tighter at the plastic covering his mouth and nose, he pulled it back, only for it to snap back at the elastic around his face retracted. He grunted at the sudden pain, but found it actually didn’t hurt anymore. Instead, he felt at the back of his head, his hair a slippery mass of darkness plastered on his face and shoulders. The telltale elastic material stood stark against the wet tendrils and he yanked them up and over until they were completely off from his face.</p>
<p>Okay, he had to take this slow. </p>
<p>He didn’t know how long the tube was, or how far it went, but he knew he had to get it out. So he steeled himself and started to pull. It felt absolutely awful, and he had the notion of dry heaving the entire time he pulled it out. But he forced himself to stay steady and slow, otherwise he might hurt himself all the more. The tube seemed to go on forever, white and covered in bile as he pulled it out. The buzzing only got louder, followed by harsh beeping and even harsher sirens. His eardrums ached at the sound, but he knew he’d be able to get out of here – wherever here was – once he had this fucking tube out of his mouth.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He almost heaved when finally the tube was out. Sucking in a deep breath, he threw the offending item onto the ground by his feet, and started on the rest of the piping and wires stuck to him. Needles pulled out easily. Wincing at the stinging feeling as it slipped out of his skin. </span>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">One by one, they dropped to the metal floor with a low thunk. He grimaced again at the sight of his body, his skin pin pricked with little red dots from where the needles were. But he noticed they seemed to heal over quite quickly. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Okay, now he was free from all of that. He needed to get up and out of here. Pressing up at the glass, he tried to find something, anything, that would help him. A crack, a seam, a small perforation, anything. But it seemed to be all smooth glass. With a growl, he slammed his fist at the glass. But nothing happened.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">He tried again, and again, and again, using both of his fists to try and crack the glass open, but nothing. It was smooth, still, perfect. A little cloudy and and bleached red. He could only see his own reflection staring at him.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span class="qowt-font3-TimesNewRoman">Beautiful coffee caramel skin, starry sea blue eyes staring at him with a wonderfully bright smile. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <em>
        <span>...my love...</span>
      </em>
    </p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <span>Wait. He...huh?...what was that?</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>He heard something thudding and banging outside of the glass, followed by a body slumping onto the glass. He could see the body, see the...</span>
      <span>familiar, they looked so familiar...</span>
      <span>brown hair matted red with what looked like blood, a white coat speckled with it too, the man's hand pressed up against the the glass, sliding down slowly, leaving a streak of red behind.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Oh fuck. "Hang on there!" He cried out to the man, slamming his fists against the glass with more ferocity now. "Stay awake, I'm coming!"</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>The glass didn't budge, so he sought to try something else instead. Looking around, he tried to find something, anything at all. But the ground looked like it was made of metal, and at thick as the glass around him. Looking up was the same, except there were pipes and wires strung along it. </span>
      <span>That meant it was slightly weaker. Okay, he could work with that. Reaching up, he noticed he wasn't really tall enough, but if he tiptoed, he could just about touch the top of the prison he was in. He used the tips of his fingers to find something that would help him.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Pressing up against one of the larger pipes openings, he noticed it moved, just a little, but it was something. Slumping down, he reached for one of the wayward needles, wincing at the absolute red covering its tip. It was thick, and long and was inside him. Fuck. </span>
      <span>But it would work. Reaching back up to that large pipe opening, he stabbed the needle through the plastic and metal of the pipe and saw the needle had gone through, pretty seamlessly.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Air...something cold. It was freezing on the other side. But he didn't let that stop him. Now with more vigour, he stabbed at the pipe opening with a little more strategy, until it was easier to push his hand through. Jumping up, he steadied both of his feet on either side of the glass, gripping with his legs and bent knees. Once he was stable enough, he made a fist with his hand and punched straight up.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>The pipe all but burst, slapping wide open. The gaping hole was only the beginning for him, he grabbed the outside of the prison and noticed a few more pipes and wires. Grasping at them, he pulled them up from their roots and noticed the ceiling above him give way. With a few more forceful yanks, the top came loose enough for him to punch through. </span>
      <span>And that was just what he did. Pounding at the ceiling. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>His gaze continuously checking the man slumped on the ground before him. He had to get to him, he had to get to his love.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Wait...that...no, he would have to get a closer look to be sure. He wasn't sure about anything right now. Just that there was someone out there who needed to be saved. And he was the only one who could help.</span>
    </p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <span>With one final push, the lid came loose, gaping wide open enough for him to shimmy out of. He grasped the smooth lip of the glass and pulled himself up. Muscles working to strain from his inability to move them for however long he had been there. He paused at the top, taking a look at what he was getting himself into. </span>
      <span>The ground was a sickly, tar like black, there was a heavy and horrid groaning ebbing and flowing around him. He wasn't sure what that was, but all the things that looked like they would hum were broken or off. There was a large, circular doorway, like a vault door, the black tar was pouring in through, moving like waves upon waves of whatever the fuck it was. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Where was that --holy fuck! Was that a hand?</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>From the black tar came a slippery hand, rising up and forward, and then meshing with the rest of the tar. And that was when he had gotten a better look at what exactly was happening. The tar was...was...humanoid? No, not humanoid, it <em>was </em>humans! Or at least in the same shape as bodies. Thousands and thousands of bodies all tessellated together in a large pile, spilling all over the floor, reaching out with their hands, their legs, their heads, whatever they could use. Their eyes were sunken in, black as the rest of them, their mouths gaping open and groaning out low timbres of vile sounds, teeth and mouths all blackened. All trying to get to the man laying slumped on the glass where he was.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Not wanting to call attention to himself, not that he didn't expect to have already, he took one long look around the room again. The black things seemed to make a wide circle around the man on the ground. </span>
      <span>Maybe...maybe they were scared of him? Maybe he was something special, something important. After all, why wouldn't they have gone and...what, killed him, or eaten him or whatever they did, to the man? There had to be something about him. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Well, if that was the case, then he had just made a new best friend.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>He vaulted over the glass and landed with a heavy thud on the ground next to the man. He noticed the things pulled away from him, like ripples in the water. Interesting. So, by being in close proximity to the man, they would steer clear. That was good to know.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Now to find a way out of here.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>He knelt before the man, reaching for his wrist and hoping, wishing, praying, the man was still alive. He felt a faint and thready thump, thump, thump of his heartbeat and let out a breath. Taking his sooty, blood speckled face into his own hands, he noticed the man was slowly breathing. Good, he was still alive. </span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>His glasses were cracked, askew on his face, his nose a pretty small point, and his face angular. He was beautiful, though extremely dirty. He looked down and saw the man was in a white coat, his slacks were just as blood stained. There was a pool of blood under him, kicked and smeared all over the ground, but that could be coming from anywhere.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>He had to check for any internal injuries, there was so much blood, and he wasn't sure if that was from him or from whatever he had been through. So he spent a moment running his hands over the man's slick, yet so soft hair. He didn't come across any blood, but it did give him a chance to take a better look at that face.</span>
    </p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <span>Wow. </span>
      <span>Huh. His face was so...familiar...it was like he knew--</span>
      <em>
        <span>my love</span>
      </em>
      <span><em>.</em> My love! This was my love! It had to be! This man was the one who looked after him, who cared for him, who came every day to talk to him. The man who called him his love. </span>
      <span>This was his love. It </span>
      <span>had to be! The same wavy brown hair, and pretty lips. Though they were caked in ash and dirt. He still looked so beautiful.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>"Okay, my love." he grinned, feeling a heat blossom in his chest. "I'm going to check your body for any injuries,"</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>With more vigour, he ignored the groaning and moaning of the black tar people behind him, they were still unable to get through the circle, their bodies being lashed back by some unseeable force. It was good news for him. </span>
      <span>It gave him enough time to run his fingers down his loves arms, pulling the sleeves up and checking for any cuts or slashes. Finding nothing other than smooth, caramel brown skin through the smear of ash and black, he reached for his loves legs, moving up and not feeling anything there either.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>He pulled his love forward, until the man was leaning against him, harsh breathing against his skin. It was then that he noted he was still in just a pair of wet pyjamas. He'd have to find something to wear. He checked his loves back for injuries, but again, noticed there was nothing there. So he slipped his arms up and around his shoulders, and down his slim body, all the way to his torso.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>And that was when he noticed the spongy and wet skin. Pulling his hand back, it came away red. Eyes widened, he looked around the room again. He needed to stop the bleeding somehow. There was a hook with a white coat and what looked like shirts or something, hanging.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>Shit. Okay, how was he going to get to it? He took one look at the man on the ground and nodded. He was going to have to do this.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>"I am so sorry, my love," he murmured, reaching for his love and scooping him up from the ground. His love whined, threaded and hurt. He petted him, saying soothing words as he moved. The things on the ground continued to fester away from them both. His footsteps creating ripples on the ground, where the things moved as far as they could without getting hurt.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>He reached the wall and moved his love slowly until he was pressed up against the wall. His head slogged to one side, breathing much harsher now. Okay, not good. Reaching for the coats and shirts, he balled one up and pressed it tight to the wound, murmuring apologies when his love winced.</span>
    </p>
    <p>
      <span>"I'm so sorry, my love, it'll be over soon, I promise," </span>
      <span>He tugged on a large shirt and ripped it at the seams with his teeth, until there were two large strip of them. Wrapping one tight around his loves wound, he tightened it to the man's back.</span>
    </p>
  </div>
</div><div>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>Okay, that should do it.</p>
    <p></p>
    <div>
      <p></p>
      <div>
        <p>
          <span>Reaching for another shirt, he quickly pulled it on over his shivering body. It was still so fucking cold in here. It was like they were in a god damn fridge. A familiar logo with the words 'Altea Tech' was emblazoned on the front, and it was two sizes too big for him. But it was something for now.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>He reached for his love again, checking the makeshift bandage and seeing it was holding steady. The shirt had turned red, but at least the blood had stopped. Looking back, he made a decision there and then. </span>
          <span>He'd need both his hands to get out of here.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>Turning around swiftly, he felt his love fall on his back, head knocking against the back of his neck. He reached for his loves arms, kneeling down a little, and tugged him up. His love tightened his grip around his body, weak yet awake.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>"It's okay, my love. I'm going to get us out of here."</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>He hoped.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>Okay. Okay, he could do this. There was one more white coat hanging on the hook, so he snagged that and wrapped the arms and the long hem of the coat around his love, tying the sleeves around his chest, and the hem around his waist. He jostled a little, and noticed that his love was positioned a little more securely on his back. </span>
          <span>Okay. So far so good. </span>
          <span>He gripped his loves thighs, making him wrap his legs around his waist too, and made his way through the room, smirking when the things around him moved away as if they had been burned. This was looking good. </span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>He had so many questions, so many things running through his head. But he knew he'd be able to get all of his answers later, once he and his love were out of here. </span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>Stepping over the circular vault, he was met with a mess of a sight. The place was littered with those things, and what looked like...oh god, half eaten bodies. He held back the nausea that threatened to take over him. And instead focused on what he could do with what he had around him. </span>
          <span>Okay. There were a few computers and screens all over the walls, and computers meant wires, and wires meant that his love would be more secure on his back, enough for him to have both hands free. He yanked a few from the nearest broken terminal, and wrapped them around his and his loves body, crisscrossing them around them both like a makeshift bondage rope.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>Okay, that was his loves body secured, now the legs.</span>
        </p>
        <p><span>There weren't many wires, especially ones that were easy to get to, the rest were bolted to the ground or strung up too high for him to reach. So he sought for the </span>people. They looked like guards, tightly buckled kevlar that seemed too tight around their half chewed on bodies, walkie talkies -- to which took two of -- and lanyards and belts. <span>Belts he could use. He slipped one off a half eaten person, grimacing at the dead eye staring straight into him, mouth open in a silent scream.</span></p>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div>
      <p></p>
      <div>
        <p>
          <span>"Be grateful you're unconscious, my love," he grimaced, but the belt came free. He did the same to another guard and soon he had three belts two walkie talkies and what looked like a taser gun on his person.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>He wrapped his loves legs together in front of him, one at his loves shins, and two at both of their thighs, making sure that it wasn't too tight, but tight enough. He did a few jolts and jumps, and though his loves head did move, and he did wince at the sudden movement, he didn't jostle or fall off. </span>
          <span>Perfect. </span>
          <span>If anyone decided to take his love away from him, they were going to have to deal with him too. </span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>With his hands free, he switched the walkie on, but was met with the same groaning sounds as the ones by his feet. Fuck, okay. So maybe if he got them both out of here, he'd have more luck and find out more about what the hell was happening. </span>
          <span>He couldn't...really...remember anything...not...</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>There was a high screech and a blip from the walkie, that broke him out of his revere. Focus. He needed to focus. Holding the taser in his left hand and a baton he had picked up from one of the guards on his right, he swiped it through the air and grinned when it whistled in the wind.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>It'll do for now.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>The doors were all open, giving him a great vantage on the quickest way to get out of this hell hole. He made his way out into the hallway, seeing the tar things trying to swipe at him, at his loves legs. They barely made it any close, not with the magical barrier -- what the fuck else could it be? -- around his love, and his baton wielding prowess. He wasn't being cocky, he seemed to be pretty good at it.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>He's have to look into that later too.</span>
        </p>
        <p>
          <span>He bolted up the steel staircase, dodging and darting here and there, swinging his baton at anything that tried to come close. The others seemed to be on some kind of kamikaze notion, knowing they were going to die if they came near him and his love, but trying their best to try to get something of them. </span>
        </p>
        <p>He wasn't sure if it was something contagious through air, skin, or fluids. It didn't seem to be air, because his love was still...well, beautiful and caramel skinned. And it didn't seem to be through skin either, not with the many, many dead bodies littered all over the place. These things didn't seem to care at all about their own well being. And he was glad he had taken the initiative to harness his love to his back. He wasn't sure what he would have done if his love hadn't been so tightly secured to him. But he was glad he had done so.</p>
        <p></p>
        <div>
          <p></p>
          <div>
            <p>
              <span>Soon, he had reached the lobby, ducking down behind a turn style, he noticed the doors leading up to the bright sunlight. Safety. All he had to do was find a way passed these hundreds of things who were scattered all over the lobby floor. The lights were flickering on and off above them, shining along the tar like bodies and giving them a sickly feel of ether, of water, of something sick.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>He shuddered, patting his loves leg against his own. Maybe he could try and get to the service desk, the reception desk seemed completely--Oh. Wait. Nope. A human hand was thrown up on the air, half eaten and bloodied, bangles and rings still on the wrists and fingers, before it was dragged back down into the space behind the desk.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>Well that was out.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>There were a few sofas and tables before him, if he was quick enough, maybe he could jump over the turn style and make his way over to them. It'd be slow, but maybe he could do it. Nodding his head, he gathered his courage and quietly vaulted over the turn style, landing and crouching down immediately to stop any loud thudding noise come from his feet. He didn't want them to notice him just yet.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>He zipped through the blank space before him until he was right behind a high back sofas. He almost shrieked when a pair of legs slumped over the back of the chair and before his face. But he held a hand to his mouth, forcing all the sound back. The body wasn't moving, and he soon found out why, when the legs slipped down over the chair and directly before him, that was all they were. Legs.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>Ew. He pushed his hands tighter against his mouth. He couldn't feel sick now, he needed to get out of here. </span>
              <span>Oh...those shoes looked like they'd fit. Not like he needed them anymore. </span>
              <span>Shaking his head, he slowly unlaced the mans shoes and slipped them off. Carefully, he sat on his ass and slipped on the shoes as quickly as possible. Huh, he was right. They did fit him. And now he had shoes.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>He patted the man's legs on his knee, thanking him, and got back onto his now shoe encased feet. Two more sofas and he was at the doorway. With a burst of speed, he silently made his way to the middle and then the last sofa. Good, okay. One more thing and then he was free. </span>
              <span>With one last burst of speed, he was soon at the door, hiding as much as possible behind a thick potted tree. Thank goodness for heavily decorated foyers and lobbies. </span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>It seemed a little too easy. He thought to himself. The door looked to be one of those fire escape ones. The ones where you had to push them open and they would open quickly, but close slowly. Hmm. There was not a lot of electricity running around him, he noticed, the streets outside were barren, and there were no streetlights on, or shop lights, or any lights at all.</span>
            </p>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div>
          <p></p>
          <div>
            <p>
              <span>So maybe...maybe he could just open the door and get out. Large companies such as this one wouldn't have alarms, right? They wouldn't have such loud screeching sounds happen in the middle of the day, of course not--</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <em>
                <span>Screech! Screech! Screech!</span>
              </em>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>-- Fucking...fuck.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>The weird humanoids tar like heads all raised up in a weird unison, they seemed to look at one another, many grimacing and groaning and screaming at the sudden sound. And then they centred at him. </span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>Double fuck.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>The door opened a little, and he ran straight out, not looking back at the large building he had just come out of. His grip on the baton was tight, his feet thudding against the pavement, taking to the streets with the least amount of tar people as he could find. His breath coming out steadier and steadier the faster and farther he ran. </span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>Huh...that was strange.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>But at least his love was steady and stable on his back. Now he just had to find out what the heck was happening and try to find a safe point. A hospital would do nicely. Noticing the signs around him leading him to the general hospital, he grinned.</span>
            </p>
            <p>
              <span>"I'm going to get you better," he grinned, patting his love on his thigh. "And then you can tell me your name, my love,"</span>
            </p>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Haven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My laptop is...not fixed. But my old chromebook is finally working well enough for me to write!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"To anyone still out there...we are here...we are a safe shelter...coordinates are..."</em>
</p><p>Shiro sounded off the coordinates of the building he was currently on, sitting on the rooftop, on his front, peering out of his binoculars over the low cemented barrier, through the iron wire and out to the streets below and beyond.</p><p>It was quiet.</p><p>Hell, it was a little too quiet. And Shiro really didn't know why. He had expected there to at least be some kind of rampage, some kind of ruckus happening in the left side of the city below him. He had expected to hear gunshots, he had expected to hear the familiar droning of the Others, and raucous screams of his fellow friend as he did something incredibly stupid and somehow survived to live another day.</p><p>It wasn't like Matt was a subtle person when it came to food runs. Especially when he was with Hunk. The two were definitely foodies, but Hunk was a little easy to scare when it came to the Others. Though he was strong and skilled as a shield and a ramming fighter -- a Tank as Pidge would call him -- he was a golden soft hearted boy.</p><p>Just a boy.</p><p>Matt was the complete opposite of him. He was rambunctious and ready to fight. He and Adam had a tally up on how many Others they had taken down every time they went out together, or by themselves. The tally was on the board in the common room a few floors down, and currently Adam was winning by seven points.</p><p>Peering through his binoculars again, he grimaced at the sunlight shining against the many windows on the skyscraper to the right of his crow nest. It always irked him that he had lookout this time of day, not every day though, but it was usually the sunniest whenever he was out here. Though he preferred this to any torrential rainfall. He had had his few shares of being on the short end of the stick whenever there was a storm coming and he was lookout for that four hour shift.</p><p>With the memory of last weeks storm, he got used to the sunlight and brightness very quickly. It didn't bother him all that much, now that he thought about it. Being a watcher in the crows nest was the easiest job. But he preferred being a watcher out on the streets, weapon in hand, and ready to raze through whatever came at him.</p><p>It was the god damn quiet that bothered him right now.</p><p>Quiet never meant anything good.</p><p>It had been quiet the first time his world had turned on its head. The first time the Others had attacked him and his family. It had been a quiet evening in the Shirogane house when the Others had attacked. They had come through the steel and metal barriers the government had issued them with. They had pushed and shoved through them as if they were flimsy plastic and paper.</p><p>Hearing the ruckus, he had rushed to the kitchen where his mother had been making their dinner and had taken the brunt of the attack. They had swarmed in like wasps, humming and hawing and slipping and sliding around the house like a rush of water, destroying everything in their wake as they tried to reach for anything they could.</p><p>He had covered his mother, pushed her down and away from the roaring flames of the stove. The Others had pounced on him, and dragged him back and away from his mother. He could still hear her screams, her cries as she tried to get to him, as she tried to drag him back to her. But they had heard her, they had seen her, and they had attacked her.</p><p>He had tried, damn had he tried his hardest, but the Others had ripped him apart, leaving him without an arm and a scar across his nose and many littered all over his body.</p><p>They hadn't killed him.</p><p>But they had killed his mother. She had been bitten all over, chunks of her body torn open and apart. There was so much blood. Every time Shiro closed his eyes, he'd see her face, see the light in her graceful eyes fall to darkness. Her beauty marred by the dark that enveloped over her body.</p><p>He had been too late to save her, too late to do anything for her but weep and rage in his pain as they ripped his arm clean off and ravaged at it. While they had been bust, he had dragged his way over to her, blood pooling and mixing with her own. The once white carpet a sodden red and black. She had held his hand in her last moments, telling him through choked tears of how proud she was of him, how much she loved him. That he had a job to do for her now, he had to let her go and protect his brother.</p><p>He had nodded to her, telling her he loved her through sobs filled with pain. But he had agreed. He would let her go and protect his brother.</p><p>But his brother, his little baby brother, the one who had looked up to him and called him a hero, the one who played with him, who had the best poker face when it came to M&amp;M poker, who was always a sore loser whenever he lost at a video game, the one who was picky about peppers in his food, but loved eating spicy things. The one who had given him such an intense and beautiful smile when they had finally picked him up from the orphanage, his tooth grin emblazoned in Shiro's mind as they sat in the back of the car, listening so intently when Shiro told him everything they were going to do together now that they were brothers.</p><p>He had come into the kitchen, weeping and sobbing, a large wound on his stomach and shoulder, teeth marks that had gone through the shirt he had been wearing. The marks so deep on his skin, as if they had been embedded and scarred straight away on his pale skin. His blood had soaked his shirt and shorts, and his body was trembling as he had walked closer and closer to his big brother, holding his arms out and calling for him.</p><p>"Nii-san...'kashi-nii-san, it hurts,"</p><p>The Others had noticed him, noticed his cries, raising their heads up in unison. But before they could move for him, move to get anywhere near his brother, Shiro had moved. He had dragged his brother to him and held him close to his body, protecting him, telling him that everything was going to be okay.</p><p>"I'm here, nii-san is right here,"</p><p>He heard them come closer, their groaning and moaning, the slippery slide of their bodies against the ground, they moved so quickly. Shiro tightened his hold on his baby brother, curling him into his arms and forcing him to look away. His brother had been bitten, his brother was <em>not going to die.</em></p><p>They were not going to die here!</p><p>But before the Others could get to him, the entire house shook at the foundations. There was so much noise, and bright lights and sirens, thick and heavy footsteps hitting the lanai around the house. The door and windows were burst open, glass and wood shrapnel's littering the floor, as men in black armour poured into their small house, all holding guns and weapons and aiming them at the Others. Electricity licked the air as tazers went off, buzzing and shining brightly like lightning.</p><p>The Others shrieked, inhuman and high pitched as they either retreated or died. The men huddled around them then, but they were all talking too fast, too much, and it all happened in such a blur. One moment his baby brother had been in his arms, and the next moment, the men were taking him away.</p><p>Bloodied, beaten and losing a lot of blood from his amputated arm, a few of the men had taken him into their arm, ripping him away from his dead mother and forcing him into an ambulance. He had fainted from all the pain and blood loss, but when he next woke up, he had one arm, and no brother to be found anywhere.</p><p>His brother had been bitten, had been infected, he had been taken. And Shiro would honour his mothers wishes and protect him.</p><p>Which was why he was here.</p><p>After a few days, where he had constantly yelled, screamed and raged at the hospital staff, wanting to know where his brother was, where they had taken him. He had found out that the men that had come to their home and killed the Others had separated them. They had taken his brother away, somewhere that the doctors had no idea about.</p><p>Distraught but determined, he had vowed to himself that he would find his brother, and keep him out of harms way. They had taken him, which meant that his brother had not died. He wouldn't believe it. They had left his mother, but they had taken his brother. Taken him away from him.</p><p>They were going to pay.</p><p>He had met Matt and his sister Katie -- call me Pidge -- at the hospital, they had been looking for their father, having been in a surprisingly similar state to Shiro's own family. They had been attacked, lost their mother. Their father had locked them in the basement, but before he could get his supplies and return to them, he had been attacked, or taken, they weren't sure. But they hadn't found his body anywhere.</p><p>They had clamboured together and had gotten out of the hospital with a vendetta to find their lost loved ones.</p><p>They had met Hunk, who had been protecting his mothers from the oncoming fleet of Others, and had met Adam, the local university professor who had been with them at that time, fending off the Other's whenever they had come closer to their small party.</p><p>With a battle cry that surpassed even his own intent, Shiro had rushed in, and he and Adam had fought the onslaught of Others, back to back, weapons at the ready. Adam was amazing, Shiro had dutifully noted, aiming and firing his weapon with such precision, it had floored him.</p><p>It had been Adam who had told them about this place, a small localised hospital building in the far centre of the main city. It was a few stories high, had fire escapes that didn't reach the ground, and a water and heating system that ran from the centre of the building and underground. It was powered through through solar powered generators on the roof, and had a greenhouse as well. It was more a research laboratory than an actual hospital, but it had rooms, beds, showers, and a large cafeteria with working hobs and fridges. The solar power and centered pipes was a godsend, it meant that, unlike other buildings, they were able to have both hot and cold running water, and a good source of electricity for a very long time.</p><p>There were a good twenty of them currently in the building, of all ages and sizes, each with their own daily chores and jobs to do. For some reason, not that Shiro was really aware <em>why </em>-- and Adam telling him that he just had a way about himself that oozed 'commander', and had given him a wink that had made Shiro's heart palpitate and keel over - the people in the building had all sought to follow him and his closest comrades -- Adam, Matt, Pidge and Hunk -- and listened to their thoughts and ideas. It had kept them all safe after all.</p><p>Though he welcomed all those who needed help, he was a little picky about who came into their safe haven. He had to be, to make sure everyone stayed safe. He had a few rules that were not to be broken. Every time someone went out of the safe haven for any form of job; whenever they returned to the haven, he would tell them to strip and show their skin, before they were allowed up, passed the many barricades.</p><p>He needed to make sure no one was bitten or infected when they came to his safe haven. And everyone had agreed, if any of them were bitten, if any of them were infected, they would move on to another place.</p><p>Though it pained him to turn any of them away, especially when they still were unsure how to keep any of the infected safe from those that were not infected, or how to slow down, or stop, the virus itself. He would not put any of them in any danger.</p><p>They trusted him, and they all agreed. And so far, everyone that had come in, and stayed, had been safe.</p><p>He also made sure to rotate the jobs, so everyone had something new to do during the monotonously long stretching days. It kept people busy and distracted from the world around them. They had created an entire world inside the building. Of course, he made sure those who were unable to do certain jobs were kept away from it, like children for one thing. He took on all people who needed help -- as long as they were not infected.</p><p>Pidge had cleverly told him to pick the people for each job from a hat. This was to stop any scheduled rotations and any form or anarchy that may rise. Though there was no chance of any usurpers, there were people coming in and going -- he never stopped anyone when they wanted to leave and move onto the next place - and any of them could turn bad and go against them.</p><p>Then again, Pidge didn't trust anyone that wasn't her brother, Shiro, Adam and Hunk. And rightfully so. A lot had happened to them all during the pandemic.</p><p>They had survived long enough, so it had to be working.</p><p>Pidge had been adamant to find a way to stop or stall this pandemic, a cure, or something, that would help them continue on life as normal. It was a large task for such a small person, but she, Matt, Hunk and Adam all worked together to figure something out.</p><p>Pidge's father, Samuel Holt, had been working on engineering an antivirus of sorts, it had been his job at Risen Tech all those months before he had been taken. He had gotten close to something, but it had been top secret from the entire world. They weren't sure what he had found out, what his team had sought. All she had was her fathers notebook, a journal of sorts, that told them all about his research. But the brunt of it all was back at Risen Tech.</p><p>Unfortunately, the building had been swarming with too many Others', Shiro had lost many good people in that fight. And he had instead sought to figure out a better way to get into it. Stealth, and intelligence, not brute force.</p><p>He was still waiting for information from Pidge, who was currently in the research laboratories one floor below him, trying her hardest to crack into Risen Tech's mainframe, hacking was something she was good at, but Risen Tech was just too much of a stronghold to get into.</p><p>She never gave up hope. And neither did he.</p><p>He noticed a gleam coming from the once lavish courtyard in front of the tall skyscraper, a small group of Others were merged around the pool of water, reaching in, but shying away from the splashing fountain. Shiro had quickly learned almost all of the weaknesses of the Others during his watches. Water was a rather big one, they didn't really like it. But it wasn't a complete deterrent. If they were hungry enough, they would go directly into it.</p><p>The Others.</p><p>He growled, but his thoughts were interrupted by a large and oddly shaped figure walking down the long winding road leading up to the city. He peered through his binoculars, expecting to see Matt and Hunk returning from their food run. He was going to give them a piece of his mind if he saw they had once again come with gourmet foods, rather than the essentials. Honestly, he didn't think they needed caviar or whatever that weird smelling thing in that can had been. But he had let them off then, knowing they needed something to distract themselves with.</p><p>But when he saw who it was, his eyes widened in shock.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Authors Note - Apology</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't usually do this. <br/>And I really didn't want to, or expect to. </p><p>To all of you lovely people who read any of my fics. I'm sorry I've not been updating as much as usual lately. </p><p>Unfortunately I've been hit with some extremely bad news over the past few weeks, one which has caused me physical problems as well as mental.</p><p>My usual livelihood had been disrupted and put into a standstill pretty much. My tumour has revolted and is seething for revenge, and my body and joints etc are paying the price.</p><p>Writing and doing any form of art is either extremely slow, or extremely painful. I wanted to continue but I just can't keep up with it. </p><p>Updates are going to go on pause for now. So, I am so very sorry. I will return as soon as I can with more for you lovely readers. I just need some time to rest and recuperate.</p><p>I love you all, so dearly.</p><p>Thank you for your support, and kudos and comments and we'll wishes and everything in between.</p><p>I am so sorry guys! <br/>I'll be back as soon as possible.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, what did you think?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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